Victoria will trial a safe drug-injecting room in inner Melbourne in a major turnaround for Premier Daniel Andrews, after calls to set up the centre amid a growing heroin crisis in the state.

Minister for Mental Health Martin Foley said Cabinet approved the proposal after a review of private members bill and after considering advice from the police, the coroner and community stakeholders.

He said the case for a safe injecting room was now overwhelming.

"We know that the facts around this are clear," he said.

"The number of Victorians dying from overdoses has doubled since 2012. More Victorians now lose their lives because of drug overdoses than they do on our roads."

Thirty-four people died from the drug in a four-block area near popular Victoria St in one 12-month period, prompting calls from the coroner for a trial.

The trial will be based on the private members bill presented to Parliament in February by Fiona Patten, from the Reason Party.

Ms Patten congratulated Premier Daniel Andrews for his "about-face" on the issue.

"My bill was brought about due to the tireless advocacy of grief-stricken families, paramedics, key stakeholders working on the front line, residents, researchers and health professionals across Victoria," she said.

"The needless deaths in North Richmond this year alone are reason enough for this Government to act and today they finally have."

Police forced to turn 'blind-eye' to drug use

The Opposition accused the Government of doing a backflip on the issue.

Mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said an injection room would make it harder for police to crack down on drugs.

"They'll be forced to turn a blind eye on drug use and drug possession in the injecting room region and we know that they also won't have any additional resources to deal with our sky-rocketing drug crime rate in Victoria," she said.

Sixty-thousand needles are handed out every month from the North Richmond Health Service, where the trial will be held, which Ms Patten calls the "epicentre of the heroin problem in Victoria".

"It will ensure that people who are dependent on heroin can use it under supervision, but most importantly can be put back into the system where we can start referring them to drug treatment programs and we can start helping them get their lives back on track," Ms Patten said.

"The centre will be at the North Richmond Health Service where there are addiction, mental health services, where there are a whole range of wrap-around services."

Ms Patten said the safe injecting room would help "scores" of people, save lives and help the people of North Richmond who live with open drug use in the streets and on their properties.

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